Syria's President Bashar al-Assad received Monday in his palace Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi and an accompanying delegation.

Talks during the meeting dealt with the situation in Iraq and the role of the neighboring countries in extending aid to the Iraqi people to restore their sovereignty and to exercise their self-determination, SANA reported.

The two sides also reviewed the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Iranian Foreign Minister is also scheduled to attend a ceremony held by the office in Damascus of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to commemorate the late Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer Hakim.